The Cost of Indecision
The ability to make decisions, and make them fast, is critical for any entrepreneur, because very often it’s the decisions you don’t make that will stall, or even destroy, your business.
Uncomfortable, intimidating decisions are the ones most likely to trip you up. It seems easier to kick the can down the road than to make a decision that might be wrong, or may hurt someone’s feelings.
But James and Dean will tell you, from difficult personal experience, that the cost of indecision is a LOT higher than you think.
Tune in to hear their personal examples of when NOT making a decision cost them money and time, and even handicapped their businesses.
Plus they’ll reveal how even a decision that turns out to be wrong is better for your business than indecision.
If you find yourself avoiding or procrastinating decisions because the cost of making them seems too high, too nerve-wracking, or too uncomfortable, this episode is exactly what you need to stop spinning your wheels and make those business-building decisions, no matter how intimidating or difficult they seem.
Outline of This Episode
- What NOT making a decision costs you [6:00]
- When the gift of problem-solving backfires [12:30]
- The “perfect decision” myth [26:00]
- How other people factor into your indecision [30:10]
- The gift of wrong decisions [38:00]
3 major points discussed
- How to tell when it’s decision time. This one seems VERY counterintuitive. But if you’re 90% or more sure of your decision, it usually means you waited too long to make it. Surprising, right? But when it comes to your confidence in your own decisions, there’s a sweet spot to shoot for. While no guarantee your decision is “right,” this sweet spot will ensure you’ve given a decision enough thought, but not more than it needs for you to make it. Tune in to discover exactly how to tell when it’s time to pull the trigger.
- Not all decisions are created equal. Some decisions aren’t worth the bandwidth we give them. For example, what to eat for lunch should be a much faster decision than whether to sell your company. Quickly identifying which decisions are worth the extra time and thought, and which ones are not, will skyrocket your decision-making speed. Tune in to get James and Dean’s tips for quickly discerning whether a decision is worth the extra consideration.
- You’ll NEVER please everyone. Avoiding hurt feelings is one of the top reasons we avoid making decisions. But the reality is, it’s not possible to make everyone happy every time. Case in point: James shares a horror story about a meeting he attended where dozens of people weighed in on a design project. It really got out of hand, and made arriving at a decision impossible. Tune in to hear exactly what happened, and discover the critical decision-making lesson James took away from the project. If a desire to please others impedes your ability to make decisions, just wait until you hear this!
Resources & People Mentioned
Music for “Just The Tips” is titled, “Happy Happy Game Show” by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
